“When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” The cliche is old, but true. Anna Jackson was ready for a teacher, but not for the oysterman. But then teachers aren’t always what they appear to be.
“Be kind to strangers for unawares, you may be entertaining an angel.”
John Oysterman was a man of the sea, a wise man, a nut job and 100% enigma. He was part Yoda, part Donald Shimoda, and part Mr. Miyagi. If you know the genre well, then you recognize it merely brings the hero’s …

(this lengthy post is a story, an amazing, never ceases to stun me sequence of events in my life, true story)
(Okay, that’s me 30 pounds ago - I LOST the 30) leaning over to shake author and TED Global Speaker Dan Pink’s hand after my TED talk in Oxford, England in 2009.)
Never say never because HOPE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY.
By that I mean never say miracles never happen. Never say “It won’t get better.” Miracles happen and it does get better. And yes, “Hope does find a way.”
Three years before …

I saw a wonderful photo the other day of a Ralph Lauren inspired and decorated Airstream. I downloaded the photos to my desktop and have been gazing at them for several days now. They evoke a warmth and desire in me I haven’t felt in years. I’m not surprised. They are visual metaphors, invoking involuntary memories of camping cabins I have happy memories of. I was just surprised at their power, even knowing where it comes from. Thank you Marcel.

French novelist Marcel Proust might have faded into all but literary …

Rex Williams, a friend of mine, and his daughter and her troop sold Girl Scout Cookies last week. That’s Sydney, Rex’s daughter, in the photo. Prior to the “the big day” several of us in a social media group were talking about ways to make the experience a positive one for all the girls. As we talked what came out of the discussion was the fact that “It’s not about the cookies.” It’s about the girls.
As Rex told the Everett Herald in Washington state:
“It’s not about the cookies,” said …

Christopher Scott Emmett was convicted in October 2001 of the April 27, 2001, capital murder and robbery of his co-worker, John Langley, in Danville, Virginia. On November 2, 2001, Emmett was sentenced to death. On May 30, 2007 I received word that I was one of the media selected to view Emmett’s execution on June 13. How does one prepare to view and cope with an execution? This is my journal of that journey. My thoughts about this are not right or wrong, they’re simply mine.
That paragraph was how I …